That's not exactly the way it works, though. The league didn't inform NHLPA leadership that such a window was open, and the attempt—right or not—is being viewed as an end-around on executive director Donald Fehr.

"Most owners are not allowed to attend bargaining meetings," NHLPA special council Steve Fehr said via a released statement. "No owners are allowed to speak to the media about the bargaining. Interesting that they are secretly unleashed to talk to the players about the meetings the players can attend but the owners cannot."

The league, remember, published its most recent CBA proposal on NHL.com—a move that was widely viewed as a PR grab and an attempt to bypass the Fehrs as informational gatekeepers.

A more cynical viewpoint to take: The executives, particularly GMs, could use the window to sway players to accept a deal quickly and preserve an 82-game season—and, potentially, cause legal problems. On paper, though, that's not the case, according to Yahoo! Sports' Nick Cotsonika.

The league issued a memo telling execs they could answer questions about the proposal—which is based around an immediate 50/50 revenue split and paying players a portion of their lost wages against their own future earnings—but not lobby them to accept a deal, reports Cotsonika.

"(Any) effort to motivate the Players must be to have them act through their union, not instead of or in opposition to it," the memo read. "YOU MAY NOT: 'Negotiate' with a Player.' This means you may not explore alternatives or variations to the proposals on the table."

Regardless, the takeaway points: The owners are continuing their attempts to bypass Fehr, and the move annoyed the NHLPA. Considering that Thursday's league-set deadline for saving a full schedule approaches with no meetings scheduled, neither is a good thing.